Diane Kruger has it all: the career, the partner of six years in Joshua Jackson, the wardrobe (she is Karl Lagerfeld's BFF, after all), but she didn't always have such a glamorous life.

In the latest issue of Manhattan magazine, the German actress reveals that she was an "introverted, angry" child with an alcoholic father and an unhappy childhood. And she discovered the benefits of creativity from a young age, starting with classical ballet.

"I was an introverted, angry child," Diane candidly revealed. “When I was six or seven I learnt that through ballet and its physical demands, I could express emotion and be rewarded for it. It was unconscious, but I felt free and valued.”

Diane's initial ambition in life was to be a professional ballerina. When she realised she would never make it as a dancer she started pursuing acting instead. "By 11, I realised I didn't have the talent to be a prima ballerina," she recounted. "That's a pretty sucky thing to find out."

It was with the 2004 movie Troy that Diane became a household name, playing Helen of Troy. This was when she really began to understand the differences between Hollywood and European cinema.

"Troy premiered at Cannes; all of a sudden everybody knew my name," she continued. "[Troy] it was not the success we thought it might be. There's a lot of fear in Hollywood, which is the most different aspect to French cinema." In her latest role Diane stars as alien villainess The Seeker in The Host, alongside Irish actress Saoirse Ronan.

She proudly declared that she is a sci-fi geek and so relished the chance to play the complex character."I'm a Star Trek, Star Wars person," she declared. "[On her character in The Host] But really, is she a villain or not? That’s the question. I mean, even the other aliens find her strange."